Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) and Frontier Airlines (F9, Denver International) have announced their intention to withdraw from Cuba later this year citing overcapacity in the fledgling market.
The two were among the eleven US passenger and cargo carriers granted US-Cuba route authorities last year. For its part, Silver Airways offers regular flights from Fort Lauderdale International to each of Camagüey, Cayo Coco, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Manzanillo Sierra Maestra, Santa Clara de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, and Varadero while Frontier connects Miami International with Havana International.
In a statement, Silver Airways said that owing to a lack of demand coupled with overcapacity by the larger airlines, the Cuban routes had become unprofitable for all carriers.
"As a result, Silver has made the difficult but necessary decision to suspend its Cuba service effective April 22, 2017," it said in a statement. "It is not in the best interest of Silver and its team members to behave in the same irrational manner as other airlines. However, Silver will continue to monitor Cuba routes and will consider resuming service in the future if the commercial environment changes."
The carrier added that it may consider applying for Miami-Havana authority given Frontier's impending exit on June 4, 2017.
Commenting on his airline's withdrawal, Frontier spokesman Jim Faulkner told the Associated Press that in addition to heavy competition, the LCC had to contend with higher-than-expected groundhandling fees at Havana airport.
